Fulton commissioners ditch pay study funding

Fulton County’s tentative 2015 budget includes a 4 percent raise for county employees. But the final budget apparently won’t include additional raises for workers who a consultant says are underpaid.

The Board of Commissioners hired the Archer Company in 2012 to conduct a classification and compensation study. The details of the report haven’t been released. But the proposed budget – unveiled in November – included about $13.3 million to implement the company’s recommendations, including raises for employees Archer believes are paid too little compared to their peers.

But the report appears to be dead on arrival, at least for 2015. Last month the Board of Commissioners stripped funding for the Archer study out of the budget. The steep cost and complaints from some elected officials may have sunk the proposal. District Attorney Paul Howard, for example, recently complained that the study recommends pay cuts for some of his employees.

A final public hearing on the budget is set for 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Fulton County Government Center. Commissioners must approve a final budget by the end of this month.